Nokia N8's Macro Photography

Picture-picture!!! :-)

Nokia N8 have been one of the coolest mobile phone this 2010. This mobile phone is available in five color variants that suits your lifestyle. It is also known with its cool features like Symbian ^3 OS user interface, a whopping 12 Megapixel camera (can tweak to at 97-100% JPEG quality when modified) with bright Xenon flash and LED light assist autofocus, secondary VGA camera for video calls, 720p HD video recording at 25 fps (can tweak to at 30fps and have Continuous Autofocus when modified), HDMI capability, 16+ million color display, large 3.5-inch (640x360 resolution) AMOLED capacitive touchscreen scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass display, supports 3G, HSDPA and WIFI connection, HD and 3D Games capability, a built-in 16 GB Mass Storage Memory, USB-on-the-go (can read USB's - just plug it), up to 32 GB additional memory storage via Micro SD Memory Card, 256 MB RAM, and many many more. Actually, some feautures have been tweaked, modified or even hacked by other curious N8 users just like for examples that i have mentioned above.

Although this is a mobile phone...the coolest feauture of the Nokia N8 is the quality of 12 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics lens, F2.8 aperture, 28 mm wide angle lens, 1/1.83-inch in sensor size, the N8 has the largest sensor in a mobile phone.

12 Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics lens, 28 mm wide angle lens, F2.8 aperture, 1/1.83-inch sensor size.

With this feauture, you can capture high quality, clear and crisp pictures. When taking pictures, make sure to hold it very still as you can. Shaking of your hands while taking picture may affect the quality of pictures making it blurry.

We cannot compare the Nokia N8 to DLSR cameras like for example the Nokia N8's lack of optical zoom, optical image stabilisation, more brighter xenon flash especially when taking pictures in low light and dark areas and other feautures that DLSR have. Some bugs are also present with this phone as Nokia knows that. But for me, that's not a big downside of this phone and we know that these may fixed thru upcoming software updates. And oh, there's no perfect mobile phone, other phones and brands also experienced some buggy things and errors.

Well, if you love taking pictures like me, you'll surely still love this phone. And for those who want a light pocket camera that you can carry anywhere, everywhere and the same time...a pocket mobile computer and a mobile phone...Nokia N8 is for you!

Its camera have a macro mode which you can take clear pictures at a distance of 10-60 cm from the subject. You can choose between two options when taking pictures - 12 Megapixels (4000x3000 resolution) and widescreen 9 Megapixels (4000x2248 resolution).

Nokia N8 showing different scene modes including Macro Mode (Close-up).

Here are some samples of my macro shots. I captured this pictures where the subjects are at the center of the camera viewer display:

Small flower in the garden.

Leaves near the lake.

Flowers in the garden.

Small flower at the backyard.

Flowers in the garden.

Small flowers near the lake.

Group of ants eating something.

Small flowers at the backyard.

Flowers at the backyard.

Flowers at the backyard.

Flowers in the garden.

Flowers in the garden.

Flowers in the garden.

Flowers at the backyard.

Small fish and tiny prawns in the lake.

Flower at the backyard. Captured with flash in total darkness.

Flower at the backyard. Captured with flash in total darkness.

Flowers in the garden...with a small bee.

Flowers in the garden.

Flowers in the garden.

Baby rabbit eating vegetable leaves.

Baby rabbits eating vegetable leaves.

Flowers in the garden.

Flowers in the garden and a tiny hornet under the leaf.

Flowers in the garden.

But one of that i've discovered is to take pictures with a twist...yeah...some tricks in macro shots. I think some owners of N8 have discovered this also while playing with N8's camera. As we know, when taking macro shots, you have to half-press the camera shutter key and wait the green-rectangle indicator displays and locks in the middle of the camera view. You can now continue pressing the camera shutter key to take picture. The autofocus indicator is fixed in the center of the camera view. You can also use the touchscreen's camera shutter icon display to take regular shots or macro shots, but using this will automatically take a shot and you can't determine if the subject is close enough to lock its focus to take clear pictures especially in macro mode. The picture is now saved and you'll see that the main subject in the middle part is clear while its background is blurred. But, you can notice that you can do taking macro shots when the objects that you want to captured is at the middle of the camera viewer. But, have you tried taking macro shots pointing the autofocus at the center but the subject is far and the near main subject is at the left or right side of the camera viewer and you still want the near subjects to have good results? Doing that will result in blurry picture...the autofocus indicator doesn't lock, a red-rectangle autofocus indicator displays which means your shot will result blurry if you continue to take a shot.

Normally, when you take pictures in macro mode, the autofocus indicator is at the center. If you try to place your subjects at the side of the camera view then lock the autofocus indicator...you'll find the view will be blurred even when you continue taking picture, the result is still blurred. Another thing is...we have to hit the subjects with the autofocus indicator in the middle to make sure that the autofocus will lock.

Anyway, there are some tricks in taking pictures to make it more enjoyable. Here's some of my tricky macro shots to share. You'll noticed that the subjects are located at the right side (can also done when the subjects are located at the left side, upper side or bottom side). The subjects are still clear. :-) 

Here are some samples of macro shots with a twist. Check out this pictures...

Some ants crawling down the tree.

Small flowers at the backyard.

Flowers in the garden.

How to do this tricks? Simply follow these instructions:

1. Open the camera application of your Nokia N8 and select the Macro Mode then point on the subject that you want to capture. Make sure that the subject is as close as possible at a distance of 10-60 cm.

2. Hold and half-press the camera shutter key. Make sure to keep your finger holding the camera shutter key half-pressed without releasing it. When the subject you're pointing to is at a distance of 10-60 cm, the green-rectangle autofocus indicator will display and locks in the center view.

3. Then, while still holding the camera shutter key half-pressed pointing at the subject, move the Nokia N8 sideward, (not forward nor backward) left or right without changing its angle so that the subject will be placed at the side of the camera view.

4. Now, continue pressing the camera shutter key to captured the subject. Avoid shaking your hands, hold the camera very still to maintain the quality of picture. Done! :-)

Hope you enjoy reading this blog of mine. Have fun taking pictures with your Nokia N8. More tricks to be discovered soon while playing its camera and other feature.

Thanks!